Spizuoco and Saavedra see their wedding as an opportunity to express their own identities.

Groom-to-be Conor Healy has what he calls an “expansive” definition of something blue.

“It all started because I said I wanted blue ties. But it was a lot harder than I thought to get a certain shade of light blue,” says the San Ramon, Calififornia, banker, who has been eagerly engaged in every organizational aspect of his July wedding.

His fiancée, Heather Vilhauer, who fortunately likes the hue, too, because it will match her groom’s eyes, was amazed at his highly specific azure ambitions, taking him through multiple floors of Britex Fabrics in San Francisco to find the perfect shade. It was a decision that would naturally affect the color of the dresses for the seven bridesmaids, two junior bridesmaids and three flowe…………… continues on Memphis Commercial Appeal

Anthony Spizuoco and Lisette Saavedra with one of their hand-drawn wedding invitations at their apartment in San Francisco. The couple plans to marry on July 19 in Portland, Ore., and are sharing the load of attending to wedding details.(Photo: Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group )

Groom-to-be Conor Healy has what he calls an “expansive” definition of something blue.

“It all started because I said I wanted blue ties. But it was a lot harder than I thought to get a certain shade of light blue,” says the San Ramon banker, who has been eagerly engaged in every organizational aspect of his July wedding.

His fiancee, Heather Vilhauer, who fortunately likes the hue, too, because it will match her groom’s eyes, was amazed at his highly specific azure ambitions, taking him through multiple floors of Britex Fabrics in San Francisco to find the perfect shade. It was a decision that would natur…………… continues on The Desert Sun

One of your oldest friends is getting married. You want to get them the perfect gift, but you’ve known them forever, and you don’t need a registry to tell you what to get them.

But what if they don’t like it? Or worse yet, what if it gets re-gifted?

Have no fear. The personal finance website Kiplinger has told us what you should not be buying the happy couple.

Art or home decor tops the list at number one when it comes to the worst wedding gifts. Since everyone has different styles and tastes, you can be taking an expensive risk if you buy something the couple doesn’t appreciate.

Doing 75 mph down a winding canyon on an otherwise calm afternoon evoked some discomfort from my then-fiance passenger, white-knuckling his door handle.

“Am I making you nervous, Sweetie?” I asked. I was enjoying the speed thrill and was acutely aware that he was not.

“Not really,” he managed to squeak. But we were a month and a half away from the “biggest day” of our lives, and I knew better. The nerves were starting to fray a bit. Five seconds of silence before he said: “I just don’t want anything to happen to us before the wedding.”

And there it is. The very sentence that summarizes what I like to call “Wedding World” — an alternative reality not elicited by drugs, engaged in by the weak of heart, nor entered often by choice. A place where you believe, unequivocally, that the universe does revolve around you. A place that gave me some sympathy for the narcissists in my life.

This frame of mind is entirely limiting. There is no time to enjoy a beautiful sunset when you’ve got to put lotion on your skin for the fifth time that day.

Let me clarify. I love my husband dearly. I wanted to get married, and I think, as an observer, weddings are beautiful occasions. Everyone is smiling, and if they’re crying it’s because they’re so very happy. Weddings are inspirational events, evoking notions of…………… continues on LocalNews8.com

PORTLAND – Devyn Champagne, who lives in Northeast Portland, lost her husband Eric unexpectedly on his 35th birthday last April. Ever since, she has worn their wedding bands on a chain around her neck.

“[We were] best friends, soulmates, everything. I mean, he was my life,” she said.

But on Monday, police said a burglar used a crowbar and pried open Champagne’s locked bedroom window.

Her late husband’s belongings, which were usually kept in a box in her closet, were scattered all over her room.

Multiple items, including both wedding bands, were stolen.

Police said a burglar wearing gloves pried open a locked bedroom window. The suspect made it as far as the bedroom before Champagne’s 175-pound Saint Bernard likely scared him off.

Her iPad was also stolen, but Champagne says she only wants one thing back.

“I don’t even care about my ring, honestly. I would l…………… continues on kgw.com

HEFLIN— More than 100 years after her aunt died, Lattie Brown, 88, has made a connection to her she never expected through what she believes is the wedding ring that belonged to the deceased relative.

The ring was found last week buried near the base of a tree where it must have lain for decades.

Brown’s aunt, Nance Salmedia Edison, died in 1912, before Brown was born. Brown’s mother died young, when Brown was 13 years old and was probably buried with her own wedding ring, she said. And though the family still lives on the property Brown grew up on, most of the family’s heirlooms were lost in a fire at her girlhood home in the 1970s, she said. So the ring is a surprise, Brown said.

“I can’t explain how I felt,” Brown said about receiving the ring.

Talking about the ring recently brought back memories. Brown leaned forward in the brown chair where she sat, smiled and reminisced about her childhood on the same property where her daughter and grandchildren now live.

Brown’s grandson Heath Jones and two of his friends, Ray Camp and Brian Romine, found the ring with their metal detectors as they searched for historical relics on his family’s…………… continues on Anniston Star

Wedding season is upon us. If your mailbox is filling up with invitations, you might be feeling a little stressed about the gifts you have to buy. You probably want to give your friends and family members who are getting married something nice, but you don’t want to break your budget doing so. And you certainly don’t want to end up buying the couple something they’ll never use, will return to the store or laugh about for years to come.

SEE ALSO: 4 Rules for Buying a Wedding Gift

That’s right. You don’t want your gift to be “that” gift — the one people deem the worst they received, joke about it with other friends and roll their eyes every time they come across it in the back of their closet, garage or attic.

In general, it’s best to stick to a couple’s gift registry because those are the items they have chosen, says Trae Bodge, a shopping expert and senior editor of RetailMeNot. But if the couple didn’t register or you can’t afford most of the items on the registry, you might have to pick something on your own…………… continues on Kiplinger Personal Finance

What to give — or not give — as a wedding gift – azcentral.comNews from What to give — or not give — as a wedding gift – azcentral.com:

What to give as a wedding gift, how much to spend

It’s now the traditional high point of the wedding season, and that means anxious guests are wondering what to give as presents – and how much to spend. While no answers fit all situations, several useful rules of thumb can help. Here are some suggestions on giving presents that will be appreciated, without breaking your budget.

Sponsored by

Wedding gifts

Must you give a gift?

We were surprised to learn the answer is: probably not. “Of all the events surrounding a wedding, the only one that technically requires a present is the bridal shower,” said theknot.com. That’s because the intent of the bridal gathering is to “shower” the bride with gifts. “The wedding and engagement party, on the other hand, are invitations from the couple to share in and celebrate the day.” But theknot.com added that while wedding gifts aren’t mandatory, they clearly are common practice.

Planners make business of pop-up weddings in DCNews from Washington Post:

By Associated PressJune 27 at 2:03 PM

WASHINGTON — The dramatic climax of Jennifer Miller and Michael Bennett’s wedding came not at “I do,” but a few phrases before.

Officiant Steven Gaudaen had just begun to ask, “Do you, Jennifer —?” when a pair of security guards cut through the crowd of spectators and waved the trio toward the door.

“You can’t do this in here,” one guard announced. “Y’all need to leave.”

Miller, Bennett, and Gaudaen remained motionless in front of the African elephant in main entrance of the National Museum of Natural History. An onlooker called out, “Aww, let them finish,” but the guards were insistent.

After a beat, Gaudaen quickly pronounced the couple husband and wife, and then the wedding party hurried out.

“This is going to go viral,” a guard muttered bitterly as Miller and Bennett passed by.

Doing 75 mph down a winding canyon on an otherwise calm afternoon evoked some discomfort from my then-fiance passenger, white-knuckling his door handle.

“Am I making you nervous, Sweetie?” I asked. I was enjoying the speed thrill and was acutely aware that he was not.

“Not really,” he managed to squeak. But we were a month and a half away from the “biggest day” of our lives, and I knew better. The nerves were starting to fray a bit. Five seconds of silence before he said: “I just don’t want anything to happen to us before the wedding.”

And there it is. The very sentence that summarizes what I like to call “Wedding World” — an alternative reality not elicited by drugs, engaged in by the weak of heart, nor entered often by choice. A place where you believe, unequivocally, that the universe does revolve around you. A place that gave me some sympathy for the narcissists in my life.

This frame of mind is entirely limiting. There is no time to enjoy a beautiful sunset when you’ve got to put lotion on your skin for the fifth time that day.

Let me clarify. I love my husband dearly. I wanted to get married, and I think, as an observer, weddings are beautiful occasions. Everyone is smiling, and if they’re crying it’s because they’re so very happy. Weddings are inspirational events, evoking notions of…………… continues on KTUU.com

Event planning company sees boost in number of weddings in LynchburgNews from Lynchburg News and Advance:

Before the nuptials, the mother of the bride took the wedding planner aside.

Don’t let the father of the bride sit in the front row, she said. Put him in the middle row and on the opposite side.

But Connie Amos-Parsons sought out the middle road: After the father walked his daughter down the aisle, Amos-Parsons had him sit in the second row instead. This, she hoped, would appease both father and mother — and avoid any wedding-guest gossip about why a man who just gave his daughter away suddenly had to sit with the rest of the crowd.

The disaster was averted, for a time, until the father’s girlfriend started brewing trouble.

“She was not playing along, let’s just say,” Amos-Parsons said.

The scene easily could have been from a movie but instead was one of the high-pressure situations Amos-Parsons, a wedding planner at event planning company At Your Service, has to deal with during June, the year’s busiest wedding month.

“It’s like we’re firefighters for social events,” she said. “We put out the fires.”

In 2012, June accounted for 17 percent of weddings in the U.S., according to a study by TheKnot.com and

Iowa Moms Use Wedding Gowns to Help Grieving FamiliesNews from whotv.com:

Jayna Lindell is helping mothers of stillborn babies after her own daughter, Lila, was stillborn. (WQAD)

DAVENPORT, Iowa — Dresses that were once worn down the aisle are getting a second life, as a Quad City mom uses wedding gowns to turn tragedy into something positive.

In 2010, Jayna Lindell experienced terrible heartbreak when her daughter, Lila, was stillborn.

“My baby was brought to me in a boy’s outfit… and that’s the lasting impression I have of my baby. So, in moving forward, I thought, ‘I don’t ever want moms to go through the same heartache that I’ve been through, and with this lasting memory,’” said Lindell.

So for Lila’s birthday, Lindell began donating dresses to area hospitals. At first, the gowns were store-bought, but after her second marriage, Lindell decided to use her own wedding dresses for material.

“I had two wedding dresses, and I thought, ‘What a way to share love…………… continues on whotv.com

When Jill Duggar Dillard found her wedding dress two months ago, she got the same experience any bride who shops at Ava Laurénne Bride in downtown Fredericksburg can get: the Princess Treatment.

Jill, who appears with her family on TLC’s “19 Kids & Counting” reality show, is the first daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar to tie the knot. The Duggars have 19 children whose names all start with J.

Jill wed Derick Dillard last weekend after a six-month courtship.

Two months ago, Jill and her family were in Fredericksburg to shop for a wedding dress.

Jill’s older brother, Josh, and his family live in Maryland, and they somehow heard about Ava Laurénne’s special treatment of brides.